Rating: 
Summary: great book!!! great reading of the book too
Review: well, i think there could not be enough said about how good the story is. Steinbecks classic is one that will make you feel emotions: sadness, pity, relief, and joy. The story based on the worker migrations to california is beyond a doubt a classic novel that MUST be read... enough about the book...the audio book is excellently read by david baker who reads with great clarity and pronunciation. it is unabridged so the listener will get the whole thing as it is. i had read the book twice already and was well on my way during my third pass through when i ran into the idea of listening to this. i had high expectations of the book's content, but was wary about the readers interpretations being thrown upon the reader. baker does a good job of not throwing out too much of his own interpretations/feelings into the words as he speaks them {and when he does they coincide with my interpretations/feelings}. the unabridged audio book is well worth the price. only thing is that audio books cannot compare to actually reading the book for yourself. even with the audio book, i often went back to the book to reread certain parts, and i recommend that everyone pick up the book too and read it... but the book being around 2 inches thick, and if you do not have time sometimes for reading it, the audio book is a good alternative!
Rating:
Summary: Review of the Grapes of Wrath
Review: It's a shame that the majority of people who read this book are forced to do so as a school assignment. I don't think you can fully embrace the scope of this work with the anxiety of a report hanging over your head. I was fortunate in that, I was able to read it just because I chose to. I found myself becoming completely absorbed by the book, to the level that it started to seem as if it were a part of my life. I actually felt empty after I had finished it, sort of the way you feel when you leave a loved one for an extended period of time. I would also like to point out, that I am not what you would call a bookworm. I read about 3 or 4 books a year, generally in the summer. I started reading this book while on vacation. I had just finished Hemingway's "The old man and the sea". For those not familiar with the old man and the sea, it's less than 100 pages long. It took me the same amount of time to read both books (1 week). I think this speaks volumes about how engrossed I became with the grapes of wrath, considering it is over 600 pages. I have only seen bits and pieces of the film version, but I found it helpful to be able to put the face of Henry Fonda on Tom Joad. I do plan on viewing the film version, but somehow doubt that it could be that true to the book. I am curious how the film version will end. Based on the era that the film was made, I doubt that they can end the same. The ending is the only thing I found disappointing about the book. As I read toward the last few pages, I started to realize that it would not end in any sort of finality, unless it were a catastrophic tragedy. If ever a book needed a sequel, this one begs for it. If you read this book as a student, and as part of an assignment, I would highly recommend re-reading it. It has the potential to make one realize just how fortunate most of our lives are, and how insignificant most of our problems are.
Rating: 
Summary: I agree, but...
Review: I was forced to read this novel for freshman English, and although in general I think it had an important message and theme, but, man, was it ever boring! I really liked certain passages and the theme, but much of it was told in such an obtuse way and focused on such minute details that I could hardly stand it. I've read books on genetics, i.e. no plot, no characters, that held my attention far better and used words more economically than The Grapes of Wrath. Perhaps if the novel had ended 400 pages or so before it actually did, I could have stomached it better.
Rating:
Summary: The book comes alive
Review: Dylan Baker's extraordinary reading of Grapes of Wrath is amazing! The story, of course, is an all time classic, but what makes this special is the exacting impersonations of each character and the mournful tempo of the read. When I finished this one, I wanted to put in tape 1 and keep on driving. Highly recommeded.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Literature
Review: This is of course an American Literary Masterpiece. I would highly recommend this novel. It may seem wordy if you are a slow reader. Steinbeck can get that way. This novel will give the reader great insight into the 1930s agrarian culture.
Rating: 
Summary: Fast and furious
Review: Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" is a scathing look at the Dustbowl era, with its mass migration of displaced farmers out of the plains and towards the vague promise of the Californian coast. The chapters of the work alternate between long episodes detailing the journey of the Joad family from Oklahoma to California, and short sections written from a more abstract point-of-view, about characters un-named. Though the work is over six-hundred pages, it roars through your head as fast as any book can, with Steinbeck's fury over the plight of the migrants bursting from every page. I doubt anyone can read this work and not feel pity for the Joads, and the real men and women that Steinbeck drew these characters from. On the other hand, I felt that Steinbeck did not adequately explain the situation from the other side. It too often seems that the troubles of the migrants stem from the greed of some heartless monster, rather than a honest person who has troubles of their own. Sometimes, bad things happen and no one is to blame. Steinbeck seems to forget this. Overall, this is still a classic work of American literature, both for its beautiful prose and intensely important reminder of how things were not all that long ago, and how far we have come since.
Rating:
Summary: A 20th Century American Classic
Review: The Grapes of Wrath is John Steinbeck's classic novel about the Joad family of Oklahoma and their journey to California in search of a new life. The Joads are forced from their family farm due to the Dust Bowl crisis of the 1930s. Once their farm becomes unproductive, it is foreclosed on by the bank and the Joads are left homeless. Steinbeck's classic is a depressingly honest look at the poorest socioeconomic class of the Depression. As the Joads move West to California and then try to assimilate themselves into a land where their kind is unwelcome, Steinbeck often pauses to observe the larger picture of the desperate circumstances of life for the common American of that era. The Grapes of Wrath is a beautifully written novel about an ugly side of life. While it is heart-breakingly sad, readers will appreciate it as a classic because it is so vividly real. I think most will come away from this story with a deep appreciation of where the United States has come from.
Rating:
Summary: Honest, emotional prose
Review: Mencken said thet Steinbeck was a very good writer who picked unworthy characters to study. I can't agree completely with that. Grapes of Wrath is an important expose of the way simple people were affected by the Great Depression and industrial changes to the agricultural sector. Overly sentimental and melodramatic at times, it is true that Steinbeck exploits the sad nature of his lowly characters to elicit pity. Still, I found his style clear and the plot interesting enough to overlook these deficiencies. The narrator documents the trip down Route 66 of an Oklahoma dust farm family. They are headed toward California dreams and encounter much adversity along the way. I think the book should be read as a relevant period piece and enjoyed as an American family saga.
Rating:
Summary: a very good book
Review: The novel The Grapes of Wrath written by John Steinbeck is a master peace of literature. Through the travels of the Joad family you get an incredible feeling of what it felt like to travel during the Dust Bowl of the late 1930's. The novel starts with a recently paroled Tom Joad hitchhiking to his family's farm in Oklahoma. After being let off, Tom starts walking towards where his farm was before he was put in prison for homicide. Soon after he begins walking he meets up with another main character, Jim Casy who is a former preacher. After shooting the breeze for a while the both of them continue the journey to the Joad farm. Upon arriving at the farm, they find it deserted. Tom, clueless as to what happened does not know what to do. After looking around the property for a while, Tom notices his neighbor Muley Graves, coming towards him and the preacher. Tom asks him if he knows where the Joad family is. Muley states because they cannot afford to stay on their land they were forced to relocate to Uncle John's farm. After spending the night at the Joads house, the preacher and Tom Joad continue on their journey to Uncle John's. When they arrive at Uncle John's two things happen to Tom. First of all his own mother does not recognize him, second of all, after everyone does figure who he is, they all asked him when he escaped. To which he replied, "I was paroled". Soon the family realizes they cannot celebrate Tom's freedom. They quickly load their 27' Dodge pick- up with all the belongings they will need, and soon they are on their way to California. The character that forms his identity throughout the book is the main character Tom Joad. He does what is best for the group by going with his family to California. He easily could have stayed in Oklahoma where it would be safe for him. But instead he breaks his parole in order to go California with his loved ones. I would defiantly recommend this book to anyone who likes thinking while they read. A book such as this one deserves the utmost attention while reading it.
Rating:
Summary: Skipped it in high school, glad I read it now!
Review: What a great novel...i wasn't much of a reader in high school, but now that i have a child, i thought it best to see what i missed. Boy, did I miss! If you have to pick one "classic" novel to read, this is a don't miss. Now I see why classics are called classics.
| 
